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Merit. The expression on the drummer’s face is priceless, it shows his dedication and commitment. Also, I love the contrast and detail in his hair and clothing. To me, what lets this image down is the drum. My eye is drawn to the several overexposed areas in its reflections. There’s nice separation between the drummer and the background.

OPA_026_BALMY.jpg

Not achieved. Peering at the dingy through the tall grass makes me think it hasn’t been used for a while, with the layers of mud undisturbed. For a stronger image I would focus on the boat and crop on the right-hand side as well as the top. The out of focus vegetation competes with the dingy for attention and is not sharp.

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Merit. Nice tight shot – well balance elements in this image

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Achieved. Slightly overexposed losing some detail. More flattering to have people holding food or drink not actually eating or drinking.

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Honours. Good title, I enjoy the beautiful tones and colours. A nicely exposed and composed natural history image with great pictorial value. Good depth of field, the muted background works well to support the main subject which is nicely lit with good sharp detail. A lovely capture

SSA_026_PUPPY LOVE.jpg

Merit. A nice feeling image with good composition. In my view, the image may work better rotated horizontally so the puppy is the lead in from the left to the girl. We tend to read from left to right and as it is, the girl is drawing my eye first and she is slightly out of focus. Do try it. Some selective sharpening on the puppy I feel would bring out some nice detail.

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THREE

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ONE

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Non Acceptance. Unfortunately not sized correctly (1920 x 1280) When you redo this one see if you have a shot with the full tail on. A little noise reduction will also assist to clean up the image.

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Non Acceptance. UNFORTUNATELY this is not sized properly (1919 x 1920) What a great shot. Sharp eyes and details in the feathers and water on the head.

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Acceptance. When I first scrolled through the Images this Image immediately stood out for me . An excellent choice of camera angle giving good separation between the front horse, The statue the three horses behind and the crosses. Excellent tonal control from white to black with good detail all the way across the Image. The only disappointment for me was the cloned area as it was not handled as well as everything else in the post production . Keep up the good work, you have an eye for composition and tone, just get some more practice in with that clone tool.

SSA_026_Bluebells and Sycamores ICM.jpg

MERIT. The choice of subject has given a colour palette that works very well together, Be careful with bright highlight areas that go to the edges of the frame as this can demand a lot of attention from the viewer and lead the viewers eye out of the frame.your use of slow shutter and movement has been well handled to create a pleasing blend.

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ACHIEVED I have felt like this over the years. I do like to little touch of the clock in the back ground. But I am drawn between the lady and the clock and it’s a shame they are so far apart. But a great idea. Try it again without the cup on the right as this is distracting

OPA_026_A Skippers Sunset.jpg

MERIT I like the light on the top and every thing else is in shadow, for the title I would have liked to have seen some sunset colour. The bottom area is not really adding to it so I would look at cropping half of it off. The small animal standing by the back just adds more to the image

SSA_026_The Blue Hour.jpg

ACHIEVED The Blue hour This is the magic hour, just after sunset when there is a blue hue to the sky and surrounds. The longer shutter speed has enabled more detail to be recorded into the image, from the people in the restaurant to the roads and lights below. Nicely exposed and the crop suits the subject

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ACHIEVED Your shallow depth of field has given you a very pleasing background which highlights the bird who is the subject in this image. The eye is nice and sharp with that glint we all like to see. You have even caught some of the water droplets from his beak. The sharpest area is the little protruding feathers from the wing, the rest of the feather detail is rather soft which is a result of a shallow depth of field. I like the crop, and you have a good exposure.

SSA_026_A Road Less Travelled.jpg

NOT ACHIEVED I feel that the road is just incidental to the image here, being on the very right and leading out of the frame. In fact, I think you could crop the road out and not really lose anything. The white balance disturbs me. Was the sky and background really that colour? To me, it almost looks like you have the White Balance set to tungsten! Taking a custom White Balance reading off the sky makes a big improvement! I feel that this image could be improved if you could have moved so that the road lead into it instead of out of it!

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MERIT A well seen image here. Ideally the branch at the bottom should be in focus as being light and out of focus makes it distracting! The bird is sharp against a completely blurred background which is excellent. Maybe you could do some selective lightening just on the bird, but that is a matter of preference. I would crop this into almost a square, by cropping the right off to nearly the left edge of the light patch which I found distracting. Otherwise it is well done!

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HONOURS -- I love these little Grebes that carry their chicks like this. A lovely reflection and well placed in the frame.

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MERIT -- I do like the low point of view. A worms view! You have captured Autumn well. The white sky is less than ideal – if only we could dial up what we want when we want!!

SSA_026_A sports portrait

HONOURS I’m guessing this is Mary Bray. She is certainly riding competitively and this is born-out the racing attire and recent mud splashes about her face and body. The inclusion of a water tube and backpack suggests this may be a long distance or endurance race. The lady certainly seems to be cycling hard out. The lighting is good as is the composition. If you are anything like me, I get really frustrated when competitors decide to wear reflective googles. It may help them but it so tends to spoil this kind of shot. Notwithstanding Notwithstanding that, this image says all you need to know about the person and her sport.

SCAUP AND CHICK

MERIT - What a delightful capture of mum and chick. She seems to be smiling with reassurance that her chick swims quite well for his/her age. I find the composition to be pleasing even though the main subjects are rather central. The white blaze on the forehead of the adult is blown out. You may be able to recover a little of that in PP. The colours of the chick are well documented here. I would ask the author to check the bird species, as I believe these are actually Australian Coots. I may be wrong and if so, I unreservedly apologise. The reflections add detailed interest to the scene.

RAMADA by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE - MERIT Composition is good with the diagonals. Good colour and a different viewpoint. I would make a few processing adjustments. (exp +50%, contrast +10-15%, highlights -0-5% shadows +5%, whites +5-10%)

BEE ON SUNFLOWER by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE - ACCEPTANCE Well framed. Ideally depth of field could be greater to enable the far wing at top right to be in focus and the back of the bee to also be in focus. Some adjustments in processing will help this image I feel. (exp +30-35%, contrast -15-20%, highlights -60-65%, shadows +20-25%, whites +30-35%, blacks -5%)

THE UNIVERSE FROM PLANET ROCKMELON by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE - ACCEPTANCE Full marks for creating this image. The texture on the L/H side of the Rockmelon is very good, but appears to be burnt out along the top centre and to the right. The night sky and moon are excellent. Improve the contrast in the Rockmelon texture to that on the L/H side and this image would score much higher.

HYDRANGEA by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE - ACCEPTANCE A nice delicate image, but is overpowered by the very bright areas of white and near white background on the right.A crop off L/H side to make approx.. a square image would help to concentrate interest on the centre of the flower. The Hydrangea itself is nicely exposed and sharp.

MANUHERIKIA RIVER by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE - MERIT Lovely angle of view. I feel like I am sitting in the water and looking upstream. The use of a slower shutter speed to show movement was a good choice in my opinion. I think this is in the maniototo as I have photographed this river too. The river is the main focal point in this image and I like the way it leads my eye to through to the hills in the background with the clouds adding some texture to the sky. Good lighting and a well exposed image.

1/25, F898 by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE - NOT ACCEPTED Lovely composite image showing the front of the lens and the detail of the different components with the entire camera in the centre. The wording and the numbers are nicely focused. I wonder if you could have cropped the image a bit differently and got the entire circle of the lens within the frame. While the composite is clever. I feel that the edges of the interior circle are a bit too sharp so a bit of a softer/feathered edge might have been better in my opinion.

ŽMOGUS, KURIS YRA DIDELIS OBJEKTYVAS! by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : MERIT The bright red makes this plane stand out against the huge landscape which we would have liked a little sharper. The movement is shown by the blurred propellors - well done for achieving this. Another excellent feature is the sharpness of the pilot which provides an extra focal point. You have caught the action at just the right moment with the plane banking in towards us and the pilot also looking in our direction.

SEEN BETTER DAYS by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : ACCEPTANCE Lots of interesting old clutter as a background to the derelict vehicle. The photograph is a little under exposed. Try shifting the highlight slider a little to the left along with a shift of the mid-tone slider as this allows us to see more of the detail particularly in the background. The wide white frame is part of the image and its whiteness pulls our attention to the edges and away from the main story. There is a lot of potential both for this photo and in this scene and we hope you took lots of photos while you were there.

FG-1D CORSAIR by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : ACCEPTED This image brings home just how much of these planes is straight engine. Competently handled but lacks a bit of punch and could have been cooked up a bit.

THE BARN by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : ACCEPTANCE Cool barn and I like the way the snow covered logs on the left lead in to the shed. It’s a bit let down by the flat lighting and it’s a tad over done and you could have played around with it in your image editor to give it more punch. A good acceptance.

LIGHT BLUE TOUCH PAPER AND RETIRE by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : HONOURS WOW! A dramatic recording of a fireworks display not spoilt by drifting smoke, which is always a challenge. There are a number of triangulations in the pattern of shell bursts resulting in a strong composition. A great title. Well done. Honours. This would be my pick as Champion.

THE PAINO by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : NOT ACCEPTED What a great opportunity was missed here. The eye follows the base of the wall to the glass door, then up to the brightly lit rectangular window at the top left of the image. This makes for a very strong distractor. Crop that out and lighten up the texture and detail on the face and side of the piano and this would have made a much stronger composition.

UNTITLED No1 by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : MERIT

LATE AUTUMN LAKE HAYES by COLIN WALKINGTON

GRADE : ACCEPTANCE

1949 MERCURY LOWRIDER by COLIN WALKINGTON; Grade: Merit

Great location, the lighting on the car is excellent, beware of reflections in the car paint job, Id also suggest removing the signage to the right of the Image as It draws too much attention away from the car.

MILLBROOK WATERWHEEL by COLIN WALKINGTON; Grade: Merit

Well seen by the author, well framed movement. I would like to have seen more detail around the wheel as the brightness of the foreground is a little overpowering.otherwise a nice clean Image.

REFRACTION by COLIN WALKINGTON; Grade: Accepted